Using the need to notch a victory to get to six wins as motivation, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland dominated Big Rock Crossroads Academy 34-14 in nonconference action Friday night at Woodland.

As he has been for most of the season, Kody Appel was the main weapon employed by the Falcons as he rushed for 208 yards and two touchdowns in the Senior Night victory.

FCW head coach Troy Kaupp said his team came out with a purpose.

“We didn’t know much about these guys,” Kaupp said. “We came out and played like we have the last few weeks and just took care of business.”

Taking care of business was an understatement as the Falcons took the opening kickoff and marched down the field. It was Appel handling all five rushes to cover the 65 yards.

Appel went 40, 10, 8, 6 before crashing through from 1 yard out for the touchdown. It took the Falcons just 2:04 to put points on the board and produced a lead they would not relinquish.

“Kody ran hard and we also knew we could do some things against them and we wanted to work on some things for the playoffs,” Kaupp said.

The Falcons’ defense was in control of the game all night long. FCW held the Crusaders to a paltry four first downs in the first half with one of those coming via penalty.

Good thing, too, because Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland (6-3) didn’t dent the scoreboard again until there was 6:50 remaining in the half.

The Falcons took over on their own 46 yard line after a defensive stand. The first play was a Keegan Bertsche-to-Jon Hays pass that covered 32 yards. Appel was called upon and promptly bolted untouched 24 yards to put the Falcons up 12-0.

The Crusaders (3-5) could muster no offense against the stingy Falcon defense in the first half.

FCW began its next scoring possession at midfield after a Crossroads punt.

Appel gained four yards and Bertsche hooked up with Hays for a 34-yard pass play. With a second and nine, Berstche found Ben Spencer all alone in the end zone for an 11-yard scoring strike.

The Falcons went into the locker room with a commanding 18-0 advantage.

“We knew we had to win this game to get in (the playoffs) and the kids knew it and we responded,” exclaimed a jubilant Kaupp.

The Falcons didn’t hesitate to go to their backup players, who played most of the second half. Appel carried the ball only twice in the second half, but one was a zig-zag run past diving Crusader defenders.

Page 2 of 2 - That jaunt was good for 22 yards and set up a Bertsche-to-Hays touchdown pass for 17 yards. Austin Dutko punched in the extra points to give FCW a 28-0 lead.

The Crusaders and Falcons couldn’t hold onto the ball for four successive possessions in the third quarter. Kaupp blamed those miscues on the weather.

“We fumbled the ball a few times when we ran it, it was just cold, it was the first real cold game we’ve gotten into,” Kaupp said.

The Crusaders finally crossed the goal line with 6:33 remaining in the game as Adam Rogman plunged over from 2 yards to cut the deficit to 28-7.

Then the Falcons had a little fun on the ensuing kickoff. Dutko took the ball at his own 10 yard, stumbled and almost fell at the 19, then ran into a wall of Crusaders at the 29 before somehow finding an opening and streaked down the sideline in front of the Crossroads bench. He went unscathed the rest of the way and put the Falcons up 34-7. Dutko’s run covered 90 yards.

The Crusaders would add a meaningless touchdown with 4:27 to go to make the final 34-14.

Appel had his yardage on 19 carries, Dutko made the most of his 6 carries for 42 yards. Berstche was 4 of 12 passing for 99 yards. Hays hauled in 89 of those yards.

The Falcons will have to wait and see who they play when the pairings come of later tonight.